FIVE very lucky students recently received membership cards to the United States Embassy’s Information Resource Centre. The small group was joined by the US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater, who got the chance to get to know the students. She later expressed her excitement at seeing how the centre grows and how much it helps Jamaican students and general researchers.

The centre is dubbed ‘the definitive collection of Americana’ and hosts a little bit of everything with over 1,000 books on the shelf, and another 33,000 online resources. Along with the information on US history, politics, economics, and culture; the centre also offers assistance in college preparation.

Delano Brooks from Campion College explained that even his teacher used some of the information from the centre as handouts. His schoolmate Elizabeth Dunlop said that she is amazed at the volume of information and that she hopes to use the information to help her prepare for her upcoming college years at Harvard University. Jamaica College’s Kenroy Hall and Jevoyan Dilworth expressed similar feelings, stating that the environment is definitely conducive to learning and the variety of information is amazing. Jevoyan also explained that after attending college help sessions, he has further opened his options for college.

With a registration form and two passport sized photos, students and other members of the public can become a member of the Information Resource Centre. Membership allows persons to enter the facility Tuesdays to Fridays between the hours of 8:30 am and 3:30 pm, without having to set an appointment a day in advance.